About YWCA Cambridge
Empowering Our Community for Over 75 Years
We champion gender equity through impactful leadership, advocacy, and program delivery.
A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP
Our Story
For over 75 years, we’ve led the charge for women’s rights and gender equity. As a member agency of YWCA Canada, we’re part of the nation’s oldest and largest gender justice movement to provide shelter, literacy, life skills, employment and counselling programs, and child care services.
Founded in 1948 by visionary women in Galt (now Cambridge), we began as a safe residence for single women and mothers.
As the world changed over the years, so did we. Today, our commitment to building a just and equitable world for all is stronger than ever.
We’re here for you through essential services like child care, employment skills training, and gender-based violence prevention workshops.
We believe that together, we can create a brighter future.
The Latest News
News Release: “20 Beds is Not Enough”: YWCA Cambridge Marks One Year of Women’s Homeless Shelter with Urgent Call for Systemic Change
Beyond the Ice: What Heated Rivalry Teaches Us About Healthy Love
YWCA Ontario 2026 Pre-Budget Submission
YWCA ON Submission: Ontario’s Next Poverty Reduction Strategy
YWCA ON Strongly Endorses Proposed Exemption of the Canada Disability Benefit from Child Care Fee Subsidy Calculations
YWCA Ontario Letter to Premier Ford RE Bill 60
From Placements to Possibility: How Small Steps Powers Community
Small Steps to Success: Building Confidence, Community and Careers
We Rocked Our Goal! Walk a Mile 2025 Was One for the Books
Our Work
Decades since we began, our efforts are still sparking meaningful, positive changes in the community.
These statistics represent only a small portion of the thousands of women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals we help empower.
Summer Camp
600+ Summer Campers every year.
81% of Campers are repeat attendees!
Students Reached
500+ Students reached each year through Roots of Empathy.
94% of children in ROE understand others' feelings better at the end of the program.
Education
550 Youths informed through GBV Prevention workshops every year.
100% of educators agreed that workshops helped students identify healthy ways of interacting with their peers.
Summer Camp
600+ Summer Campers every year.
81% of Campers are repeat attendees!
Students Reached
500+ Students reached each year through Roots of Empathy.
94% of children in ROE understand others' feelings better at the end of the program.
Education
550 Youths informed through GBV Prevention workshops every year.
100% of educators agreed that workshops helped students identify healthy ways of interacting with their peers.
Our organization is driven by passionate individuals working together to support our community through programming, outreach, child care services, and more!
ADVANCING GENDER EQUITY
For a community where everyone feels safe, valued, and equal.
We’re continually renewing our commitment to gender equity and responding to the needs in our community — through policy analysis, campaigns, research, coalition building, programming, and more.
Advocacy
We push for systemic solutions to critical gender equity issues, including women’s homelessness, employment, and child care.
We engage with officials in local, regional, and national governments by presenting research and case studies, calling for increased funding, and giving a voice to those in our community in meetings with other leaders.
Thought leadership helps us highlight and address the experiences of women and gender-diverse individuals. We engage our community with new perspectives through podcasts, public education events, and collaborative research projects.
In 2023, we reached a major milestone by making the case for and receiving Regional Council support to establish the first women’s emergency homeless shelter in Cambridge.
We understand the immediate needs of our community and help equip women, girls, children, and gender-diverse individuals with essential skills and knowledge.
Together, we address issues like gender-based violence, healthy relationships, and financial literacy. We also support women and families with child care services in over 400 licensed spaces in Cambridge.
Our Values
Transparency
We are open, honest and clear in our strategy, decisions, and relationships. We hold ourselves accountable to our interest-holders and community. We communicate decisions publicly whenever possible.
Inclusivity
We believe that diversity in experience, identity and opinion is crucial to a strong organization. We seek to create an environment of belonging and respect.
Self-Determination
We believe in the fundamental right of women, girls and gender-diverse individuals to make choices in their lives, and we support them as they do so.
Equity
We believe that every person should have what they need to be successful, in their specific circumstances. We actively identify and remove barriers, especially for those who are historically, persistently or systemically marginalized.
Action
We do not accept the status quo. We will courageously call out inequities, innovate in our programming, and advocate boldly with and for women and gender-diverse people. We will take on the risks involved in working to change entrenched structures and systems.
YWCA Cambridge works from an intersectional feminist, anti-oppression framework. We emphasize feminist principles throughout our work, including collectivity, participation, diversity and wellbeing.
Annual Reports
Our annual reports help us to reflect on our work, successes, challenges, and plans for moving forward.
Check out some of our recent reports below!
Our Impact
Participant-Led, Responsive Programs
“Everything the YWCA does is a lot more caring and gentle and participant-led… everyone has a space to speak; everyone has a space to belong.”
— Charlotte
By involving participants in the design and implementation of our programs, we create a dynamic environment that adapts and promotes inclusion.
We aim to address participants’ needs and strengths in a responsive approach through positive role models. They’re invited to share experiences, challenge harmful stereotypes, and recognize their talents, with equal opportunities to develop new skills.